Northern Winds [NC-17] (IC)

[Mel Dragonkitty]

As Mel was beside one of the doors she opened it with a look of dignified irritation at the disruption. Swinging her high heel clad legs out, she held out her hand, obviously expecting to be handed out of the vehicle. In an expensive dress, high heels, and with a spoiled princess manner she didn't seem at first glance to be the sort to create a disturbance more drastic than a temper tantrum. "A disturbance, officer? How dreadful. But I suppose you have to deal with ruffians all the time."

[Tezkat]

The black fox in the impeccably clean and pressed white suit stepped out of the other side of the vehicle. He scurried over to Mel's side and helped her out of the cab.

"Tavern? Surely you can't mean the Dragon's Grin?" He looked up at the police officers with feigned concern that didn't quite succeed in hiding his irritation at the interruption of his day. "Who in their right minds would cause trouble at a Dragon-owned establishment?"

[Aisha deCabre]

Aisha relaxed in the seat of the car with a sigh as the others finished filing in, with the exception of Stygian, and sat with her sword standing with the point of the ornate sheath between her feet.  As usual she felt a little caged within such a machine, but it was at least a little roomier than the last one for this group.  Aisha wasn't claustrophobic, but still rather enjoyed open air.  Especially when closed air tended to sting the nostrils somewhat.

She enjoyed the ride in her usual silent way, her head hidden in the sheltering folds of her dark cowl.  The panthress had the solemn appearance of any adventurer about her, though she was leaning back and it looked rather like she was sleeping while keeping her hands on the blade's rounded pommel.  In truth she was very livid, her crimson gaze peering straight out of the darkness of the folds and watching the road around them.

So in fact, Aisha hadn't missed the fact that they were stopped by the police, who seemed to rather linger at the front where Mel and Edge played on distraction, and very well, she could add.

Though they were quite a mixed group when it came to being dressed.  Well-dressed individuals in the front and dangerous-looking adventurers further back, with an undead somewhere in the middle, it all looked.  Way to be nonchalant, Aisha smirked, and only hoped that they would be overlooked smoothly.  She stayed in the car, and unlike a couple of the others would only exit if she herself were addressed to do so, still playing on the illusion of being inattentive.

[Stygian]

The lynx looked somewhat surprised at Mel's demeanor, and then just eyed Edge sternly, and said again, this time more sharply; "Please step out of the vehicle. We're going to have to ask you a few questions." Obviously, he didn't think either of them particularly amusing.
   That was when the dog suddenly stepped up and took Mel's hand, sidling in between her and his partner. With a look somewhere in between nonchalant disregard and amusement that was clearly practiced.
   "I'm sorry, mademoiselle. My colleague is a professional man, but he has little patience or manner. Allow me," he said, leading her out in front of the flustered face of the lynx. The other man's consternation didn't last long though, as he turned and walked around the car, opening the door on the other side.

[Tezkat]

"Questions? Out here? In the middle of the road?" The well-dressed fox looked quite incredulous.

He rapped the top of the cab and eyed the dangerous-looking adventurer types with disapproval. "And just are we paying you people for, anyway? Shouldn't you be out here protecting us from," he gesticulated to indicate some unseen threat in the distance, "whatever hooligans these officers are talking about?"

He sighed and made a visible effort to calm himself as the more reasonable of the two officers intervened to assist Mel.

"I'm sorry, officer, but will this take long? If there's a problem, I'm sure my lawyers can find a way to expedite matters..."

He already had a cell phone open and was thumbing through the phone book.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel smiled at the canine. "Yes. I can see that you are obviously the superior officer." Delicately she probed at his mind even as her voice gained it's hypnotic tones. "You're clearly in charge here, and a very decisive man. You can see at a glance that we are just innocent tourists.  Obviously not the ruffians you are searching for." She looked for signs that her mental suggestions were taking as she continued, "I'm sure you can see that we aren't who you want and are going to send us on our way. Just a bunch tourists you can forget all about."

[Stygian]

As Mel spoke, the shepherd's eyes seemed to lose themselves. His ears fell forward just a bit, and he nodded slowly, acquiescing.
   "Yes. I think that will be good. Wouldn't want to hold you up here," he almost mumbled, still holding her hand slackly. The lynx turned his attention toward the other officer and Mel, furrowing his brow deeply.
   "Are you nuts, Alex?!" he said, failing to see the subtle signs immediately. "We need to be do..." he began. Then, his eyes widened with astonished realization, and his hand snapped down to his side to unholster his weapon. "Hold it right there!" he cried tensely.

[Boog]

Richard gave a rattling sigh and displayed exemplary face to palm coordination for an undead, muttering something along the lines of "Smooth, Mel. Real smooth."

[Tezkat]

The handsome young fox--armed only with a cell phone--raised his hands.

"Whoa, whoa! Nobody's going anywhere, officer. Let's not do anything we might regret, okay?"

[Cogidubnus]

 Sighing from inside the car, Cog rubbed the bridge of his nose, his face somewhat soured. He silently thanked the limo company for the tinted windows as he slipped his sword back into his belt, somewhat impeding his ability to sit. He murmured at the undead beside him.
"We really don't have the time for this."
Cog shook his head and scooted out of his seat, maneuvering around until he managed to exit the car, on the same side as the now-frightened police officer. The cop swung the gun quickly towards Cog, who raised his hands peacefully and took a step back.
"Hey, now, calm down."
Cog kept his hands raised. The cop kept a critical eye on him. Cog slowly lowered his hands and made a practiced bow.
"Cogidubnus Mithlome, at your service, good sir."
Cog's tone and inflection were as calm and reasonable as he could make them. The cop raised an eyebrow but for a second, and turned to regard Tezcat as soon as he spoke, his attention caught. His eyes began to flicker between two felines and his partner a bit longer than they should have.
Straight from the bow Cog darted forward, and before the Cop had really registered the movement Cog fluidly drew his sword and struck, the blade a flash of a silver arc. The cop's head rolled from his shoulders, and a fountain of blood erupted from the severed neck.
As the head fell, Cog absently hoped Mel had a good domination of the other officer's mind. A rather good domination.

[Mel Dragonkitty]

That wolf is fast, was Mel's first thought when Cogidubnus made his move. Her second thought was that the sight of the blood destroyed her delicate hold on the canine officer's mind. Quickly she grabbed for stronger control. He was trying to pull his hand from her grasp to draw his weapon only to find that she was much stronger than she looked. The moment of struggle was all she needed to put him to sleep. With a heavy thump he dropped to the ground. With a sigh Mel knelt beside him, "Now we need to tidy up and hurry along before anyone sees us here." With that she began the painstaking job of removing the memories of the last hour from the police officer's mind. "And someone might want to calm down the cabbie."

[Tezkat]

Edge rolled his eyes. He stepped forward and bent over the fallen lynx.

"You okay, buddy?" He acted as if expected a response from the headless police officer. The fox extended a hand. "Here, let me help you up."

+ + +

"Huh? What happened?"

The lynx stood, displaying a surprising lack of blood or headlessness. He looked a bit shaky on his feet and was rubbing his head. The well-dressed fox had an arm around his shoulder, supporting him. The officer straightened up and dusted himself off. Then he turned to see his partner lying on the ground.

"Alex! Are you--?"

"He's fine." The fox interrupted him. "Just fine. You both had a nasty fall, but my friend is attending to him now. Although if you happen to have a healer's kit on you..."

"Health kit. Right."

The lynx popped the trunk of the police cruiser and rummaged around inside. The fox leaned against the side of the vehicle, craning his head to see over the policeman's shoulder. The back of the car lowered ever so slightly farther than one would expect from a man of that size pressing down on it and, curiously enough, remained down even after the two men shut the lid and moved away from the vehicle.

"C'mon, Alex." The lynx squatted by his partner. "This isn't the time to be sleeping on the job. There's a report of a disturbance at a club downtown."

[Stygian]

Tidying up the mind of the canine officer proved a bit more of a painstaking task than Mel had prepared for. Seizing it would have been hard enough for even a cubi in the first place, as he, like probably all policemen in the city, had been provided with a manner of mind-shielding. Fortunately, she was no cubi. This sort of work was her expertise, not just something that happened to be a natural ability.
   When the lynx, whose name Edge happened to have divulged by then was Carl, came back from the back of the police car, or so it seemed, Mel was very nearly finished with her work, hasty as it had been. The man squatted down and looked at his colleague, and began speaking. He managed to finish his sentence, before an arc flashed through the air, much like the one from Cogidubnus' sword, but pitch-black. It ripped a long tear in the road and tore asunder the two men by the shoulders, missing Mel's face by a hand's breadth. Blood and guts spattered in a long reave, through torn fabric and fur.
   "Too messy and slow," growled a disdainful and familiar voice from beside the other car. Stepping forward, Stygian bared his teeth and glared as he spoke, just the hint of something moving back up his sleeve. "We're getting out of here. Now! They'll already be making inquiries. Better to create a mess that's too hard to make anything from then."
   Without waiting for the others, the bat moved the other car out of the way, by simply lifting the front end with an arm and throwing it to the side with an alarming creak from the forward suspension. He trailed a claw across the side of it, scratching the paint as he walked toward the back.
   There was a dampened cry, and the slam of a door, as the chauffeur of their own car threw himself out in panic and ran, high-tailing it as fast as he could away into the woods.

[Tezkat]

Carl stood and turned to face his ambusher. The lynx had a long gash running across his shoulders and chest, but there wasn't any blood. Instead, the gaping wound was a dark crevasse sizzling with some kind of purple energy. He sighed.

"I really liked that car, too."

He fiddled with his belt and tossed his badge and handgun to the fox. Then he melted into a puddle of darkness and disappeared. An additional pool of blood reappeared near Cog, with long wet streaks in the asphalt appearing as the illusion masking them faded.

Edge turned the Being weapon over in his hand. The fox shrugged and tossed it aside.

"I guess we have to do it his way after all."

[Sunblink]

Sitting impatiently beside two of her comrades, Keaton sulked and occasionally threw an expectant glance or two outside the vehicle, hands fidgeting with the iridescently-hued marble she juggled between her black-furred palms. What was taking so long? Stupid police officers. If she could get her hands on whoever alerted the authorities to the commotion last night, she probably would've either thrown a world-class hissy fit or would've torn them to pieces. Depended on how irritated she would be at the time.

Fortunately she didn't need to do either of the two. The sickening sound of metal slicing through skin, muscle, and bone slid with almost soundless grace into the air, mere moments after the police officer's head went flying. Ears flattening, Keaton stared with disgust at the decapitated form as it crumpled to the ground, lifeless. While Keaton would never admit it, she found the sight of blood gruesome and slightly disturbing, and found it fortunate that in the heat of battle she would be too preoccupied to notice the foul fluid.

It seemed as though things were going smoothly enough after that, up until something far more dramatic and monstrous. Cleaving through the air, an ephemeral, sable arc materialized seemingly out of nowhere, slicing downward, bifurcating the remaining police officer (Carl?) by the shoulder and allowing the bloodied body to fall. Feeling somewhat sick after she saw the intestines strewn like tattered confetti along the ground, Keaton, who was originally peering over the lap of the one sitting beside her, withdrew slightly, stifling a wet, gagging noise.

Unsurprisingly, the chauffeur decided that it was best to evacuate, racing out of the car in an undignified lump and dashing off. She didn't even notice Carl rise, reanimated-albeit with an abysmal gash severing him--and throw the fox his badge and gun, until she dared to peek outside the car again. Just in time to watch the lynx liquify and melt into the ground.

Keaton groaned again at the sight of the guts, finding herself temporarily, for once, robbed of coherent speech. "I..." she stammered, "couldn't yo..." Finally she released a rasping, "GaAaAAah..."

Followed by a very small, "ew."

~Keaton the Black Jackal

[Aisha deCabre]

Still staying within the car while the conversation with the police went on outside, Aisha was beginning to get somewhat edgy and restless, and that was quite evident when she snarled with a bit of annoyance at Edge's comment to the adventurers.  Granted they would have to keep playing on that, but still...

At Richard's muttered comment about Mel, Aisha glanced up and curiously glanced out of her window, which faced the side with the goings-on.  It seemed Mel was trying to bring an officer under an influence of illusion, with Edge trying to keep the other one from shooting.  The panthress gripped her sword handle with impatience.  She'd have thought of going out there to help things along...that is, until Cogi started out first.

She watched the wolf curiously, wondering what he was bound to do...and widened her eyes when without a warning he managed to decapitate the lynx.  Aisha was frozen with stark repulsion, and with a muttered curse she started out of the car just as the whole thing was stopped with a messy intervention by Stygian.

With a small attempt to keep the contents of her stomach intact, Aisha watched with a blank expression as their driver ran from sight, looked over the strewn blood and gore, listened to Keaton as she reacted as well as anyone would have...then she promptly hit her forehead a few times on the edge of her door in exasperation.  It looked like it was time to do a lot more running, and soon.  "Was all of that REALLY necessary?  We can't always mow down every individual who tries to stop us!"  She rolled her eyes and muttered beneath her breath, "Dioses nos ayudan ahora, por favor... (Gods help us now, PLEASE...)"

[Stygian]

Stygian hissed and turned a scathing look to Cogidubnus, holding it for a few seconds and then lowering it into a mere glare, which he directed first at the fox, then at Mel. If they had wanted to hold them off, they could have done so properly.
   "If we don't, we won't get out of here. Now, let's make a mess enough for the others to choke on..." he said, emphasizing the last part so that no one could mistake his opinion. And as he did, he flipped out his gun, then trained it, and let the shot echo between the trees.
   The running lapin screamed and fell forward, clutching his spasming left leg and kept half crying out, half hissing through his teeth. Not minding the man, Stygian shot daggers with his eyes against Cog again as he stepped past him, and then threw the boot open with a loud snap from the lock. Throwing the headless body out of the booth and against a tree with a sickening wet thump, he grabbed the head and gave it a swift kick, sending it into the corpse's sagging middle. Then he bent forward and felt under the car.
   "Still warm... but not..." he muttered to himself, walking around to the front of the vehicle. Then, abruptly, he heaved the front end of it up high and threw it into the same tree as the corpse. It crashed into it with a loud creak and the crack of glass, bending the tree down and crushing the body. Meanwhile, calmly, Stygian slipped another sort of bullet out of his pocket and into the revolver. It was hardly the best sort of gun for the task, but it would do.
   Six more loud snaps, as he penetrated the fuel tank. Then, he fired the final bullet, more a roar than the others, and set the thing on fire. A quick spark came, then flames, and then the explosion as the oxygen finally breathed life into the mixture. Nodding, Stygian slipped the revolver back, and then promptly threw the last body into the wreckage.
   "That will do for now," he muttered, the flames reflected in the black of his eyes.

[Tezkat]

"Well, then." Edge clapped his hands together. "Nothing kickstarts a morning like large explosions. We can only hope that the club will prove just as flammable."

He cocked his head and regarded the wailing rabbit with almost clinical detachment.

"Uh... would anyone like to drive? Or do we need to go fetch the bunny?"

[Mel Dragonkitty]

Mel stood, producing a large white handkerchief from somewhere to wipe off splatters of blood. She stayed silent during Ignatz's cleanup of the scene, watching detachedly. Having the mind she was working on become abruptly dead was a disorienting and unpleasant sensation and she needed a moment to recover herself. Once the explosion flared she turned back to the car and slid into her seat. In flat voice she said, "I'm sure the baboon would like to drive since he has such strong opinions on how things should be done." The look that accompanied this came from eyes that weren't the least bit feline. Then she closed them against the headache that was threatening.

[Stygian]

His face settled back into simple, cold disdain, Stygian eyed the burning wreckage he had caused. Then he eyed the road around and behind them. He shook his head, and then turned his sharp stare toward Cog.
   "We'll mess up the tracks so it will look like the car didn't stop here. Now, perhaps you'd like to take care of our unfortunate chauffeur?" he said pointedly, before stepping over to the car. He'd let the wolf cut him up if he wanted, just to see what kind of man he was. Of course, he'd rather he not.

[Cogidubnus]

 Things happened rather quickly after his sword-stroke. Cog was relived to see Mel able to subdue his next foe with relative ease, and with a circular blur he manged to throw the blood of his sword and return it to his scabbard, seemingly at the same time.
Mel seemed to have the other officer well in hand, and Cog was about to turn and get back in the car when he saw his opponent standing right behind him. Were it not for the simple factor of shock, and the absolute knowledge that he had just removed that guys head, he would have again drawn and struck - then, he remembered.
Edge. Clever cubi.
Cog stepped back, content to let those two do their work. He'd just about re-entered the car when a wet, slushy, and yet also crunchy sound ripped down the road behind him. He turned to regard the other officer quite dead, and Edge's clone very damaged, amid some ripped up asphalt. The clone seemed to flow back into blood after tossing Edge a gun, and Stygian re-appeared soon after that, just after their cabbie ran screaming from the scene. Stygian was staring daggers at the wolf. Cog kept his face carefully blank, merely inclining his head.
Cog kept quiet as the bat began to tear up the scene, throwing the car this way and that, and causing a few unexpected explosions. He'd just leaned against the car, prepared to wait a moment before he noticed the bat regard him again. Cog again raised an eyebrow.
"Killing an armed man is one thing. He," Cog indicated the cabbie, "is not a threat. I'm not killing a unarmed man as he bleeds out in the grass."
Cog opened the car door and called out to the undead inside.
"We need another driver."

[Stygian]

After having said as he had, Stygian started walking away to where he had stood his motorcycle. However, upon Cogidubnus' retort, he stopped abruptly and snapped around, immediately closing with the slightly taller wolf, his face a sudden grin and not two inches away.
   "Good!" he snarled enthusiastically, fangs glinting. "Glad you have your priorities straight! Now, can you please fetch him instead then?!" the bat then exclaimed, his nearly toxic scent of blood, ash and something dark up in Cog's nostrils. He held his blackened gaze on the wolf for a couple of seconds, then sniffed and turned, pacing away.
   "Give him to Mel or Keaton. Either can do fine what I cannot," he said, back turned and walking briskly.

- -

It was with a dull headache and a nagging feeling of being out of place that Somber awoke. Fortunately for her, she was in a bed and not strung up from head to toe. There was still the matter of it being the wrong bed though. The sheets she lay on were red and dark, dark green satin and silk; definitely not what they had slept in at the tavern. Looking around, she noticed that the rest of the room seemed to go in the same sort of theme. It was tasteful, neoclassical, but with a streak toward the harsh and rough, with wrought black iron bars over the windows and in the chandelier and dark hardwoods as some of the main elements. The bed she was laying in was at least eight feet across, the head of it overshadowed by a large painting of some sort of ancient game or festival, people more or less clad in long flowing sheets dancing down a paved street in procession between colonnades and tables, against a soldier-lined hall. One might have wondered at the meaning of it. But then, one was normally not kidnapped and waking up in an entirely different bed.
   The quick movement in the corner of her eye might have been overlooked by a less attentive person. But she was demon. And so she just caught sight of a canine woman in a snug corset, frilled skirt and pantyhose, and little else, slip out of the only door into the room, which closed behind her with a muffled clack.

[Boog]

Things happened in a blur. Talking (going poorly). Disguises (crappy). Guns (aimed at us). Violence (The crap!?). Not dead... Wait, more violence (Oh my god!). Running driver. Gunshots. Right, back to the present.
"He just fucking killed them," Richard muttered, shocked, "Just cops doing their jobs and he..." Cog demanding his attention snapped him out of it. He got out somewhat shakily and switched to the front seat, buckling himself in and putting on the radio; some music to calm his nerves. He took a deep breath (it didn't help like when he was alive, but allowed him time to collect himself) and turned toward the rest of the group still in or close enough to the car. "I'll get you to Red Sands, and then I'm not fucking involved in this." He'd never admit it to himself, but he'd rather hoped to be proven wrong about adventurers by these people. He most certainly expected better of Cog, the relatively calm-seeming one. Then again, his behavior at the bar should have been a clue.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog coughed once after Stygian spoke with him, and waved his assent as he left. He heard the undead murmur something as he stepped into the driver's seat.
"I understand." Cod nodded at Richard, pushing himself off the car. His voice was understanding, and a bit resigned. Whatever may be said for the musician, he wasn't all that hard to read.
Cog pushed himself off the car and walked into the brush, retrieving the moaning, and now again screaming cabbie back to the car. Mel and the others hadn't reentered the car yet, so he set him down near the side an motioned for them to come over.
"We need to erase his memory. Probably heal him too. At least git rid of that bleeding." Cog motioned to the blood trail behind him, the fluid now pooling around the man's leg.

[Tezkat]

Edge nodded and bent down to rescue the discarded first-aid kit from the quickly expanding pool of blood on the road. He set it down next to the rabbit and flipped it open. Examining the contents, he cocked his head, as if not quite sure how to proceed.

He laid a hand on the rabbit's shoulder. "Sit still." His voice remained soft, but the authoritative tone left little room for argument. "Don't worry. You haven't given us an excuse to kill you yet."

The fox held up a utility knife. A few quick, surgical slashes removed the pant leg around the injury. He inspected the bullet wound.

"The bullet went right through. We could just patch him up and drop him off at the hospital on the way in to town."

[Mel Dragonkitty]

They were never going to get into the city at this rate. With a sigh for her growing headache Mel exited the car. "Allow me." Kneeling by the terrified driver she quickly got to work healing the wound that Edge had already begun cleaning.  "Please stay still. This is a just simple healing spell," she cautioned the lapine. But the first spell she used wasn't for healing, it was a sleep spell. The healing was a quick process and it wasn't long before she had turned to working on his memory. It wasn't hard, he had no special shielding and the memories were at the forefront. The last hour disappeared from his mind. "That should be sufficient. Are we leaving him here or dropping him somewhere else?"

[Tezkat]

Edge shrugged. He absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder as he watched Mel work.

"He won't remember anything?" He looked up at Mel for confirmation. "Unless we're planning to blow up this car as well, we may as well leave him with it. It is his livelihood, after all."

After he finished cleaning up the blood, Edge took the strips of cloth and wrapped them back around the rabbit's leg. After a few seconds of magical manipulation, the driver's pants were once again clean and intact. No evidence of the injury remained. The fox's suit had somehow managed to remain a pristine white throughout the ordeal as well.

Satisfied with his work, Edge picked up the rabbit, carried him over to the passenger seat of the cab, and buckled him in. The fox then slid into the back seat.

"Why don't you park a few blocks from the club, Richard? Given our track record, driving up to people who actually want to hurt us may not be such a good idea."

[Aisha deCabre]

After her slight ranting was done with, Aisha ducked as soon as Stygian managed to clean things up, at least somewhat, with an explosion that left her ears ringing and probably caught the attention of people a few miles away...at least that's what it felt like for a moment.  Then, watching as the chauffer was dragged back, healed, and had his memory taken care of, Aisha simply shook her head and climbed back into her seat while the unfortunate lapine was comfortably placed back in front and everyone was zipping back to the car.

The venture was starting off on an interesting note indeed.  Aisha had been within a party of hasty and bloodthirsty types before, but something in her gut said that if there were any more mistakes to be made, the price would only be paid in blood...as it had almost been with an innocent driver...as it was already with many dead mercenaries and two enforcers.

"Mel is indeed good at what she does," Aisha muttered back to Edge, leaning on the seat in front of her with her arms crossed comfortably over it.  "Those of us who know her guarantee that there shouldn't be need for blowing him up.  As for moving, I suggest we do that quickly."

It was easy to see that the panthress was quite on edge for the moment...but the slightly patient tone of her voice suggested that it wasn't all too unfamiliar to her.

[Stygian]

Not stopping to watch as they dragged the chauffeur kicking and screaming back, and looking as if he was just generally bothered, certainly not as if he'd just thrown a car into a tree, Stygian turned his back to the others and walked down the road a bit to where his motorcycle stood hidden behind a large rock and some bushes. Leading it up on the road, he started it up again, and drove off, not looking back.
   The limp rabbit in the back seat snoozed with twitching eyelids and the engine still hummed, as the open road lay ahead of the group, the bat a small silhouette slowly turning into a pinprick on his motorcycle.

[Cogidubnus]

 Cog let Mel and Edge to their work, and sliding his sword back out of his belt he stepped into the car, sliding over to the next available seat. Sighing, he pushed his hat over his eyes and leaned back, waiting for the others to get back in so they could get moving.